Table of Contents
RISING STATURE OF ERDOGAN IN ISLAMIC WORLD
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan named world’s most popular Muslim leader, according to an annual popularity index of world political leaders released by Gallup International in collaboration with Gallup Pakistan.
- According to a survey, Erdogan has emerged as the most popular Muslim leader in the world at 30% rating.
REASONS BEHIND THE RISE OF ERDOGAN
- Erdogan has supported the Palestinian cause openly Erdogan criticised Trump’s middle-east peace plan even though Saudi Arabia and other gulf nations supported it
- Erdogan won the support of Pakistan by regularly commenting on Kashmir issue
THE AMBITIONS
- Erdogan, it appears, wants to revive the Ottoman Caliphate by 2023 when Turkey celebrates 100 years of becoming a republic
- By reviving the institution of the Caliphate, Erdogan wants to claim the moral, political, spiritual, and religious leadership of the world
- A revived Caliphate as an institution is most likely to be symbolic, but it will give Erdogan immense control over Muslims around the globe
ISSUE THAT INDIA HAS
- Erdogan’s larger ambitions have little to do with India’s grand diplomatic policy
- But India cannot allow Erdogan to use India’s internal matters
ERDOGAN IN PAKISTAN
- During Erdogan’s visit to Islamabad, a joint declaration of the Pakistan-Turkey high-level strategic cooperation council made a specific reference to Kashmir.
RAISING KASHMIR ISSUE IN PAKISTAN
- In his speech to the joint sitting of the Pakistani parliament, Erdogan had asserted that sufferings of Kashmiris had been aggravated by India’s steps taken in recent months, referring to the removal of constitutional autonomy and restrictions on communications. “This approach, which aggravates the current situation and revokes the freedom and … rights of the Kashmiri people, does not bring any benefit to anyone,” said the Turkish president.
ERDOGAN STANDS WITH PAKISTAN
- He also announced that Turkey would support Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to help it avoid further strictures on terror financing. The plenary meeting of the money laundering watchdog FATF will be held soon which will decide if Pakistan has overseen enough reforms to avoid being ‘blacklisted’.
COMPARISON OF TURKEY’S TRADE WITH INDIA
INIDA TURKEY TRADE
- India’s exports to Turkey exceeded Turkey’s exports to India Last year, Turkey’s exports to India amounted to $758.6 million, while India’s to Turkey totaled $6.2 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
INDIA’S RESPONSE TO TURKEY AFTER KASHMIR STATEMENT
- ‘India rejects all references to J&K’
- “India rejects all references to Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. We call upon the Turkish leadership to not interfere in India’s internal affairs and develop proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region.
” CAN INDIA PUNISH TURKEY TO SET AN EXAMPLE?
- Some points to note
- India does not have much room to curb Turkish imports as India does not import much from Turkey
- India can however hurt Turkey diplomatically by engaging with Cyprus
TURKEY’S TWO WEAK POINTS IN GEOPOLITICS
- Armenian Genocide issue
- Cyprus Issue
AS TURKEY KEEPS RAISING THE KASHMIR ISSUE
- India will eventually have to take some action by either supporting Cyprus on international forums
- Recognising Armenian genocide another option
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